For the first time in over a year, Lady Hiva and I are going
home to Hawaii for a holiday. We have been looking forward to this trip for the
past several months—Lady Hiva especially. She has a three page shopping list
and a whole empty suitcase in anticipation for the trip…hahaha! (It’s true!) We
left Manila Philippines 0800 June 15, 2012, we arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii 0800
June 15, 2012! The best part is we had a free day in between to spend in Japan!
Because our flight left at 0800, we needed to be there at
0600 to make it through customs etc. That meant we were up at 0400. Now, those
of you that know me well can attest to this, when I am tired I tend to get
annoyed and snappy over things that normally may have not bothered me. In this
light, as we flagged down the taxi for the airport I readied myself for a stern
conversation. It seems all too often taxis try to charge more if they can.
(That is my diplomatic way of saying they rip us off) However, as we were
driving, with Lady Hiva and I squished on either side of the car because our
bags (all three of them) were taking all the space in the middle, the driver
was singing to the songs and laughing at the witty one line jokes on the radio.
His voice was not particularly beautiful, nor was he one tune or knew all the
words, yet his cheerful nature really was contagious. I realized I need to be
more like him. Instead of being annoyed at the crazy drivers in Manila or
whatever other reason I find to be annoyed, I should just sing along and be
cheerful. I resolved to not be annoyed at all today as we traveled.
For the most part I did really well. Lady Hiva even
commented at one point that I was really calm despite the fact there were times
it would have been VERY easy to be frustrated. There are just some things in
Manila I will never understand….like when they block off a whole walkway and
make every walk in one narrow path for traffic going both ways, or when they
make you go through security a fourth time right before you get on the plane
and put you in a section without a store so you cannot have or buy any water,
or when to use the bathroom at your gate, you have to go through security and
then when you’re done using the bathroom, you have to go through security
again??? What do they think you’re going
to do in the bathroom that warrants a security check? I started to laugh as I
waited for Lady to come out of the bathroom and person after person was
flabbergasted that they had to go through the security (I mean full on take your
shoes off, empty your pockets, full pat down security)TWICE just to use the bathroom. When Lady came out
she was so frustrated she SHARPLY told the person standing outside the bathroom
how stupid it was. So I guess we switched roles for the day! Hahaha!
As we were boarding the plane I was watching people. It is
always interesting to see how people react to traveling; it is usually not a
pretty site due to the stress of it all. There was this one girl that evidently
did not want to sit in her middle seat, so she sat in the seat near the aisle.
She would not move even when the guy that was supposed to sit there came OR
when the flight attendant asked her to move! I could not believe the entitled
attitude this girl was showing. If I was the guy I would have pushed the
situation until she moved, JUST BECAUSE of her prideful attitude. In the middle
of those thoughts, the guy came over to where the girl was sitting (right
behind me) and he said to the flight attendant trying to remedy the situation,
“if that middle seat is empty, I can take that seat if she really wants to sit
here.” WOW! So for the second time today
I was reminded how I need to be a better person. Here I was thinking about how
I would react to the girl’s attitude and he was humble enough to take the other
seat, even if it meant the middle seat on a 4 hour flight. He became an
inspiring person in my life in that moment. (However, I must confess that as we
were standing up to get off the plane and waiting for the line of people to
exit the girl was literally pushing me in the back to get passed me---that was
NOT going to happen! Who does this girl think she is? Does she not know how to
simply say, “Excuse me?”)
Lady Hiva did the research the night before we left to see
what can be seen in Tokyo during a 6-8 hour lay-over. The airport for Tokyo is
actually in Narita, a small town 34 miles out of the city. We decided to take
the train to Narita town. Similar to Bangkok and Hong Kong, the train system in
Tokyo is clean, easy to use and a fast way to travel. As we stepped out into
the city Lady Hiva and I both could not stop commenting on how clean it was, or
how nice it was to see fresh flowers and trees!
The streets are narrow, flanked on both sides by small
square buildings. Some of these buildings have the look of traditional Japanese
architecture, other have a more modern feel to them. Either way the façades are
all really artsy and fun to see. One thing we both liked was the fresh flower
bouquets welcoming people into the store or restaurant. At first we thought
they were flower shops! It was a little bit foggy and a light mist so we had to
buy an umbrella as we walked around. Everyone was really friendly. They kept to
their own business but when we needed directions or wanted a photo they were
more than happy to help. We especially liked the little old ladies that worked
in the stores. They were so cute as they tried to answer our questions with
a limited English vocabulary and sign language.
As we were buying some mochi—REAL mochi as Lady said—there were this little
frogs and turtles in front of the till about the size of your fingernail on
your little finger. Each of them had a character painted on the bottom. I asked
what it was for and she answered by saying something in Japanese and pointed to
my wallet, then she said, “Happy…Happy, Money.” Then she made her hands big in
the air and said, “Happy money, BIG money!” Oh, so it is a good luck charm for
wealth! And so our conversations went with everyone we met.
The Narita town temple is surrounded by a small quaint
community with shops open to the street and red paper lanterns hanging
everywhere. I would have really liked to see the place at night lit up. I am
sure it is beautiful. However, even during the day the temple grounds are
gorgeous. The buildings are ornately painted and the grounds immaculate. Gardens
reached in every direction. We found ourselves whispering most of the time
because the peacefulness of the grounds merited respect. For almost an hour we
wandered the temple grounds, stopping to admire the trees or the flowers…or the
ponds of fish and turtles. You would think we are a bit nature deprived! HAHA!
Such a beautiful place; definitely worth visiting if you have a long lay-over
in Tokyo.
On the way back to the airport we bought some souvenirs and
did some more shopping. We tried fresh bread with Azuki beans in it, delicious!
Then we ate at a restaurant to get an authentic Japanese meal. It was
expensive, but SO worth it! Both of us were glad that we did not just stay in
the airport, our one free day in Japan was amazing! Once we got back to the
airport it was fun to see the Tongan Rugby team. We would run into one player
in one store, then two others in the next store. Seeing Polynesians is a big
deal. That does not happen very often in Manila. We also ran into one of our
friends from Hawaii, we were running in one direction and he in the other, so
we literally high fived as we passed each other. Talk about random. He is from
Hawaii, we are coming from Manila and we are in Japan and run into each other! I
guess you just never know what to expect.
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| I really LOVE my Lady Hiva! |
